Inspiration
Inspiration
Brianna Perkins promotes books by and about Black people. Here’s why.
Brianna Perkins is quick to emphasize the slogan of her online bookstore, Lit for Black Kids: “Representation matters always, all ways.” The phrase—and the idea for Lit for Black Kids—came to her during summer 2020, in the wake of George Floyd’s murder. She observed at the time how quickly many Black children’s books were selling out.
“But it was only particular books, and they mostly dealt with antiracism,” she says. “I was happy that these books were selling out, but I thought about how there are so many more books out there that bring joy, that are about joy, that should be selling out as well.”
Perkins (’19), a Roxbury, Mass., native who teaches students in grades K–2 as well as grade 6 at the James F. Condon School in Boston, decided to take matters into her own hands and created a “bookstagram,” an Instagram account where she could highlight books about Black children and families for young readers. So far, she’s promoted more than 300 titles. “I believe we’re up to 12 or 13 percent of children’s books that have Black characters with big roles in them. Representation in books is improving, but it still needs a lot of work,” she says.
As she connected with more authors and built up a network, she began hosting local and virtual events, such as author interviews and story times. Soon, she expanded the Lit for Black Kids website and now sells some of the books she promotes on her Instagram account, which boasts more than 20,000 followers. The inventory fills the second bedroom in her Waltham apartment. Over time, Perkins began to focus on promoting self-published authors. She estimates that 95 percent of the books she sells through Lit for Black Kids are self-published.
“It’s hard for authors to be traditionally published,” she says, “and there are a lot of amazing stories out there that are not picked up by the big publishers, that are not seen or valued.”
Perkins, who majored in creative writing at Fairfield University as an undergraduate, was inspired to self-publish two children’s books of her own. The first is a coloring book, Afronauts, featuring astronauts with natural hair. She expects it to be ready for publishing soon and will follow it up with a companion book of positive affirmations. “I know how much work [publishing a book] is,” Perkins says. “We have to find an illustrator, we have to find our editor, we have to do all this work and front all of the costs for that.”
Understanding that struggle, she has created two directories of Black authors and illustrators on the Lit for Black Kids website, hoping to promote their work and help make connections. “If authors are in the same city, they can reach out and maybe do events together. If somebody is looking for an illustrator, they can get recommendations,” she says.
Starting Lit for Black Kids has opened up opportunities for Perkins as an educator. Administrators at the Condon School were so impressed with her work on the platform, they offered her the opportunity to design a course around it. “I basically teach the joy of reading,” Perkins says. “I provide diverse literature for my students and align it with the curriculum as well as things that they’re interested in. So not just comprehension questions, not just turn-and-talks, but making literacy fun—bringing back the joy of literacy.”
Lit for Black Kids celebrated its second anniversary in June 2022, and Perkins hopes to turn the growing platform into a registered nonprofit soon. She also aims to launch the LIT Bookmobile, a low-cost mobile bookstore to bring to neighborhoods where children lack access to a library or books that feature characters who look like them.
“I grew up going to Boston Public Schools, and I know I didn’t have teachers who looked like me and I didn’t have books that looked like me always,” Perkins recalls. “I had one first grade teacher who looked like me, Ms. Isles. She looked like me, and I felt inspired to become a teacher.”